Welcome, and thank you for visiting Second Opinion Spine (the “Site”). Please read these Terms and Conditions (the “Terms”) carefully before engaging our services. By using and/or visiting the Site, you indicate your consent to these Terms and to the terms of the Second Opinion Spine Privacy Policy which are incorporated in these Terms by reference. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use this Site.
General
The Site is owned and operated by Second Opinion Spine, LLC (the “Company”, “we” “us” or “our”). The Company reserves the right to revise or remove any part of the Terms in its sole discretion at any time and without prior notice to you by updating this posting. We recommend that you visit this page periodically to become aware of any changes that have been made. This Site will be continually under development and changes to this Site may be made at any time. Any changes to the Terms are effective upon posting to this Site. If you disagree with the Terms, we recommend that you immediately discontinue your use of this Site. Your continued use after a change has been posted constitutes your acceptance of the change.
Second Opinion Services
The purpose of the service provided through this Site is to give patients and their physicians access to additional information which they may or may not choose to utilize while planning medical care. It is not a substitute for primary care. This service provided through the Site varies by condition and by state of residence of the patient with special emphasis on providing a second opinion regarding diagnosis and treatment options for spinal conditions. In some cases, the online nature of this service will make it difficult to verify the diagnosis (particularly with conditions that rely heavily on direct patient-physician interaction for accurate diagnosis). In other words, you acknowledge that a shortcoming of an online or “virtual” second opinion may revolve around the inability to perform an actual physical exam as part of our assessment. In those cases, this service provided through this Site will focus on assessment or recommendation of treatment options. The decision to focus on diagnosis, treatment recommendation, or both rests with our consulting surgeon.
The service provided through this Site differs from the diagnostic services typically provided through an in-person encounter with a spine surgeon. The spinal surgeons providing services through this Site will not have the benefit of information that would be obtained by examining you in person and observing your physical condition. Therefore, the spine surgeon providing services through this site may not be aware of facts or information that would affect his or her opinion of your diagnosis. To reduce the risk to you of this limitation, our surgeons strongly encourage you to discuss their second opinion with your surgeon or physician. By deciding to engage the services of this Site you acknowledge and agree that you are aware of this limitation and agree to assume the risk of this limitation. Furthermore, you agree and accept that: 1) the diagnosis you will receive is limited and provisional; 2) the second opinion is not intended to replace a full medical or surgical evaluation or an in-person visit with a surgeon; 3) the medical professionals providing services through this Site do not have important information that is usually obtained through a physical examination; and 4) the absence of a physical examination may affect the medical professional’s ability to diagnose your condition, disease, or injury.
You also agree that the second opinion will not be used in any legal dispute including, but not limited to, litigation, arbitration, claim for disability benefits, claim for workers compensation and/or malpractice claims without our prior written consent.
Registration
You are not obligated to register with the Company in order to access this Site. However, certain services at this Site are available only to users who have registered with the Company or other persons affiliated with the Company. If you engage the Company’s consultative service, you agree to accurately maintain and update any information about yourself that you have provided to the Company. If you do not maintain such information, or the Company has reasonable grounds to suspect as much, the Company has the right to suspend or terminate your relationship with the Company and your use of this Site.
Site Security
This Site requires users to provide personal identification data for contact purposes. We utilize this personal contact information to verify the user’s identity and eligibility, in order to protect our members from the release of sensitive or personally identifiable health information to unauthorized users, and as otherwise described in the Privacy Policy. The Company takes precautions to protect the use of data we collect against unauthorized access. However, you should keep in mind that this Site and our services are run on software, hardware, and networks, any component of which may, from time to time, require maintenance or experience problems or breaches of security beyond our control.
You must exercise caution, good sense and sound judgment in using this Site. You are prohibited from violating, or attempting to violate, the security at this Site. Any such violations may result in criminal and/or civil penalties against you. The Company may investigate any alleged or suspected violations and if a criminal violation is suspected, the Company will cooperate with law enforcement agencies in their investigations.
Credit Transactions
The Company does not accept payment in the form of cash, check, money order or insurance reimbursement. Major credit cards (MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover) are the only accepted means of payment. When you pay by credit card, you hereby authorize the Company to bill and charge the credit card indicated in your order for any fees and any other amounts provided for in your order as the same become due and payable. In the event that your credit card expires or the Company is otherwise unable to debit the applicable amounts from your credit card, the Company shall provide notice to you, whereupon you shall immediately furnish the Company with a valid credit card account number. Your request for services from this Site will not be fulfilled until full payment has been received and/or verified.
Other Prohibited Activities
In using this Site, you agree not to:
- Send or otherwise transmit to or through this Site any unlawful, infringing, harmful, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable material of any kind, any material that can cause harm or delay to this Site or computers of any kind, and any unsolicited advertising, solicitation or promotional materials;
- Misrepresent your identity or affiliation in any way;
- Restrict, discourage or inhibit a person from using this Site, disclose personal information obtained from this Site or collect information about users of this Site;
- Reverse engineer, disassemble or decompile any section or technology on this Site or attempt to do any of the foregoing;
- Gain unauthorized access to this Site, to other users’ accounts, names or personally identifiable information, or to other computers or websites connected or linked to this Site;
- Launch or use any automated system, including without limitation, “robots,” “spiders,” or “off line readers,” that access this Site in a manner that sends more request messages to our servers in a given period of time than a human can reasonably produce in the same time using a conventional web browser;
- Send or otherwise transmit to or through this Site unsolicited messages, “spamming” or “phishing” messages, or messages marketing or advertising goods and services;
- Post, transmit or otherwise make available any virus, worm, spyware or any other computer code, file or program that may or is intended to damage or hijack the operation of any hardware, software or telecommunications equipment;
- Violate any applicable laws or regulations or these Terms;
- Alter or modify any part of the materials or services offered on this Site; or
- Assist or permit any persons in engaging in any of the activities described above.
Our Intellectual Property Rights
The content on this Site, including without limitation, any software, graphics, photos, sounds, music, videos, audiovisual combinations, patents, interactive features, any trademarks, service marks and logos and any other materials you may view on, access through, or contribute to this Site (collectively “Materials”) are owned by or licensed to the Company, subjective to copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights under United States and foreign laws and international conventions.
No Materials from this Site may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way without written permission of the rights owner. You agree not to circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with security related features of this Site or features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any Materials or content.
Modification of any Materials or use of any Materials for any other purpose is a violation of the copyrights and other proprietary rights of the Company, or of other entities or persons where so indicated, unless the Company or the owner has provided the Material for such express purpose. Permission for all other users of Materials contained on this Site, including reproducing and distributing multiple copies or using Materials on any other website or networked computer or in linking to any page at this Site, except the “home page”, must be obtained from the Company or the appropriate rights owner in advance; otherwise, such uses are prohibited. All design rights, databases and compilations and other intellectual property rights associated with this Site, in each case whether registered or unregistered, and related goodwill, are proprietary to the Company.
Links to Other Websites
As you view this Site, you may see links to third-party websites. These links are for convenience only. If you use these links, you will leave this Site. Certain of these linked websites may make use of the Company’s proprietary intellectual property rights under license from the Company. The Company is not responsible for availability or content of these other websites or for any viruses or other damaging elements encountered in linking to third-party websites. In addition, providing links to these websites should not be interpreted as endorsement or approval by the Company of the organizations sponsoring such third-party websites or their products or services. These Terms do not apply to any other websites.
Third Party Interactions
Your interactions with entities or individuals found on or through this Site, including payment and delivery of goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such entities or individuals. You should make whatever investigation you feel necessary or appropriate before proceeding with any online or off line transaction with any third-party. You are solely responsible for, and will exercise caution, discretion, common sense and judgment in, using this Site and disclosing personal information.
You agree that the Company shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings. If there is a dispute between participants on this Site, or between users and any third-party, you understand and agree that the Company is under no obligation to become involved. In the event that you have a dispute with one or more other users, you hereby release, and indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its officers, employees, agents and successors in interest from claims, demands and damages (actual or consequential) of every kind or nature, known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, disclosed or undisclosed, arising out of, or in any way related to, such disputes or this Site or its features and services.
Jurisdictional Issues
This Site is controlled and operated by the Company from our office within the State of Connecticut in the United States of America. Those who choose to access this site from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable. Access to this Site from jurisdictions where the contents of this Site are illegal or penalized is prohibited.
Termination
The Company may terminate your use of this Site or any of our features or services at any time and for any reason without notice for conduct violating these Terms. The Company will terminate a user’s access to this Site and its features and services if, under appropriate circumstances, the user is determined to be a repeat infringer of third-party rights or in breach of the Terms. Upon any such determination, you must destroy all Materials obtained from this Site and all copies. The provisions of these Terms concerning Site security, prohibited activities, copyrights, trademarks, user submissions, disclaimer, limitations of liability, indemnity and jurisdictional issues shall survive any such termination. You agree that if your use of this Site is terminated pursuant to these Terms, you will not attempt to use this Site under any name, real or assumed, and further agree that if you violate this restriction after being terminated, you will indemnify and hold the Company harmless from any and all liability that the Company may incur.
Disclaimer
The Materials in this Site are provided “as is” and without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied or otherwise. To the fullest extent permissible pursuant to applicable law, the Company disclaims all warranties, express, implied or otherwise, including but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The Company does not warrant that the functions or services available through the Site will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected or that this Site or the server and Materials it makes available are free of viruses or other harmful components. The Company does not make any representations or warranties regarding the use or the results of the use of the Materials in this Site in terms of their correctness, accuracy, reliability or otherwise. Applicable law may not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to you.
Limitation of Liability
To the extent permitted under applicable law, under no circumstances, including, but not limited to, negligence, shall the Company be liable for any compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages that result from the use of, or the inability to use, this Site or the Materials on it, even if the Company or an authorized representative of the Company has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Applicable law may not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability or incidental or consequential damages so the above exclusion may not apply to you.
Indemnity
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold the Company and its directors, officers, employees, agents and contractors harmless from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, costs (including without limitation reasonable attorney’s fees) or other expenses that arise directly or indirectly out of or from 1) your breach of any provision of these Terms, or 2) your activities in connection with this Site.
Children
This Site is not intended for children under the age of 13. If you are under 13 years of age, please do not use or access this Site at any time or in any manner. By using this Site, you affirm that you are over the age of 13. The Company does not seek through this website to gather personal information from or about persons under the age of 13.
Privacy
Use of this Site is also governed by the Company’s Privacy Policy, available here.
Other
By choosing to visit this Site or otherwise provide information to the Company, you agree that any dispute over your use of this Site or these Terms will be governed by the laws of the State of Connecticut without regard to its conflict of laws principles and the United States of America. You also consent to the adjudication of any disputes arising in connection with the Site in the state and federal courts located in Fairfield County, Connecticut. You also agree to attempt to mediate any such dispute and to abide by all limitations of liability contained in these Terms.
If any provision of these Terms is unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these Terms and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
If you have any questions or complaints regarding these Terms, please submit your questions or complaints to info@sospine.com. The Company will endeavor to respond to you promptly.